MELBOURNE, VICTORIA - Australian Indigenous Basketball (AIB) is pleased to announce the appointment of Ricky Baldwin as Head Coach of the Apunipima AIB All Stars Women’s National Team for 2019.

The Melbourne-based mentor brings more than 40-years of basketball playing and coaching experience to the role. As a player, Baldwin represented Victoria in the junior ranks before graduating into the Knox Raiders men’s program. He was a member of Raiders 1991 SEABL national championship winning side.

A SEABL standout for many years, Baldwin was also named to the Raiders 1990’s ‘Team of the Decade’.

A proud Aboriginal man with Gunaikurnai heritage, Baldwin competed on the 1988 Victorian Aboriginal men’s representative team, winning a silver medal at the national championships held in Brisbane.

Ricky Baldwin poses with the Trans-Tasman trophy alongside members of the Apunipima AIB All Stars men’s national team. Picture: Adekponya

Baldwin’s coaching experience has seen him involved with Victorian Metro state teams, while being successful across a number of levels with powerhouse associations including Dandenong and Frankston.

He’s been an assistant coach for the Apunipima AIB All Stars men’s national team for the last two-years and most recently, has served as Head Coach of the Basketball Victoria under 14 boys’ Indigenous team.

The 48-year old expressed his excitement about the new coaching appointment.

“I’m honoured and grateful to Australian Indigenous Basketball for this opportunity,” Baldwin said.

“I’m very passionate about creating pathways helping advance Indigenous basketball in Australia and to be able to achieve this by coaching our women’s Indigenous national team is something really special.”

“I coached at the AIB women’s national high-performance camp held recently in Dandenong and was blown away by the athleticism and talent levels of our female players. The AIB women’s program is in a fantastic position right now and I’m looking forward to helping drive things in the right direction.”

This year the Apunipima AIB All Stars women’s national team will head to New Zealand in March to attend the World Indigenous Basketball Championships and Baldwin has his sights set on bringing back gold.

“With the potential we have, our goal will certainly be to win the World Indigenous Championships in Wellington.”

“We’ll also look to reclaim bragging rights from the New Zealand Maori women’s national team when we face them in the annual Trans-Tasman basketball series being held later in the year.”